Children who are exposed to cats soon after birth may have an increased risk of developing eczema, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 21st.
Being exposed to two or more dogs at home suggested a slightly protective, but not significant, effect on children’s risk of developing eczema, said lead researcher Esmeralda Morales, M.D., Pediatric Pulmonary Fellow at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The s
Occupational exposure to lung irritants early in a young worker’s career can result in increased doctor visits for lung problems in later years, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 21st.
The study looked at four groups of apprentices: painters, machinists, electricians and insulators; all of these 348 apprentices were in their early 20s in 1988. The researchers evaluated medical records of the apprentices’ physician v
Patients have sometimes suffered decades without relief
(Combined Otolaryngological Spring Meeting, Grand Ballrooms A and B, Hyatt Regency Chicago, Ill; Presentation times for each study are 9:15 a.m. CT and 4:30 p.m. CT, Saturday, May 20.)
Rapid, uncontrollable eye movements that swish and thump as the eyes roll and blink. Bones that creak as the body moves. Sudden dizziness, loss of balance. Falling down after a loud noise, such as the sound of your own voice, a cough
An obstetrician well known for his care of and research into multiple-birth pregnancies has found that dietary changes can affect a woman’s chances of having twins, and that her overall chance is determined by a combination of diet and heredity. By comparing the twinning rate of vegan women, who consume no animal products, with that of women who do eat animal products, Gary Steinman, MD, PhD, an attending physician at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY, found that th
Researchers here have learned how a derivative of vitamin E causes the death of cancer cells. The researchers then used that knowledge to make the agent an even more potent cancer killer.
The compound, called vitamin E succinate, or alpha tocopheryl succinate, is taken by some people as a nutritional supplement, mainly for its antioxidant properties. In addition, it has a weak ability to kill cancer cells, and it has been tested as a cancer chemopreventive agent.
The su
Giant tubeworms found near hydrothermal vents more than a mile below the ocean surface do not bother to eat: lacking mouth and stomach, they stand rooted to one spot. For nourishment, they rely completely on symbiotic bacteria that live within their bodies to metabolize the sulphurous volcanic soup in which they both thrive.
But the microscopic larvae of these giants are born bacteria-free, with a complete digestive system. Juveniles swim, hunt, and eat before permanently settl
It’s designed to explore the depths of large bodies of water—and one recent weekend, that’s exactly where it was found: searching the depths of the deep end of Judson Pool in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center. (As the adage goes, every journey begins with a single step.)
A team of RIT engineering majors built the explorer, an underwater remote-operated vehicle, or ROV—and it has been described as one of the most ambitious student project
A team of European scientists reports that climate change estimates for the next century may have substantially underestimated the potential magnitude of global warming. They say that actual warming due to human fossil fuel emissions may be 15-to-78 percent higher than warming estimates that do not take into account the feedback mechanism involving carbon dioxide and Earth’s temperature. In a paper to be published on 26 May in Geophysical Research Letters, Marten Scheffer of Wageningen
If Earth’s past cycles of warming and cooling are any indication, temperatures by the end of the century will be even hotter than current climate models predict, according to a report by researchers in Berkeley, California. The scientists studied Antarctic ice cores containing a 360,000-year record of global temperature and levels of carbon dioxide and methane–two of the major greenhouse gases implicated in global warming. They found that during periods of warming, greenhouse
Homogeneity in sintering of fine Ni-20Cr powder by PECS process
Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS), also known as spark plasma sintering (SPS) or plasma activation sintering (PAS) is technique used for densifying power compacts or materials such as metals and ceramics and combination thereof. The attractive features of the process are that it allows compaction and sintering in a single stage and the process itself is quite rapid.
PECS also shows promise in being ab
Micronized silica for paint industry produced via fine grinding jet mill
In order to produce paint of the highest possible quality, the raw materials must be tightly controlled. This includes the mineral fillers that make up to 50% of the paint. Filler materials like calcium carbonate, talc, kaolin and silica largely govern paint properties like UV resistance, weatherability, abrasion resistance and sheen. Modern exterior latex paints typically use silica as a filler material, ho
Recent discoveries at Mayo Clinic added two more cardiac genes to the list of potential links to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), increasing the possibility that genetic defects of the heart may cause up to 15 percent of SIDS cases. This research will be presented Friday at Heart Rhythm 2006, the 27th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in Boston.
In the two recent separate studies, researchers examined caveolin-3 (CAV3) and the cardiac ryanodine recept
What do month-to-month changes in temperature have to do with century-to-century changes in temperature? At first it might seem like not much. But in a report published in this week’s Nature, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have found some unifying themes in the global variations of temperature at time scales ranging from a single season to hundreds of thousands of years. These findings help place climate observed at individual places and times into a larger glo
Why are chickens so sensitive to dioxins, but terns seem much more resistant, despite their exposure through eating dioxin-tainted fish? The life-or-death difference researchers have found can be partially explained by two amino acids in the chain of 858 amino acids that form one critical protein.
The slight difference apparently changes the three-dimensional shape of the protein, known as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, allowing dioxin to bind more easily to the chicken receptor
Researchers seek therapy for osteogenesis imperfecta, which can lead to hundreds of fractures in a lifetime
Jimmy Fox isn’t typical of a person with the genetic, “brittle bone” disorder osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). He lifts weights almost daily, participates in grueling wheelchair races, chops wood and enjoys hunting in rough backcountry.
Still, Fox, who owns a busy combination grocery store-gun shop in Cloverdale, Ore., is eager to participate in an Oregon H
Discovery Shows Some Species Can Survive Fungus Decimating Amphibians
Researchers exploring a Colombian mountain range found surviving members of a species of Harlequin frog believed extinct due to a killer fungus wiping out amphibian populations in Central and South America.
The discovery of what could be the last population of the painted frog (Atelopus ebenoides marinkellei) indicates the species has survived the fungus, providing hope that other species also might a
Feedback
